1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shock absorbing structure for a two-wheeled vehicle including a shock absorbing member projecting from a vehicular body, wherein shock is absorbed by crashing the shock absorbing member.
2. Description of Background Art
A technique regarding a shock absorbing member for a two-wheeled vehicle has been proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-67374 entitled “Vehicular Frame Including Riding Portion.” According to this technique, a vehicle has a deformable element (hereinafter, referred to as “shock absorbing member”) disposed over a front wheel, characterized in that if the vehicle collides with an obstacle, the shock absorbing member is crashed to absorb a shock.
To be more specific, according to the two-wheeled vehicle disclosed in the above document, the shock absorbing member is located at a position higher than a vertical position of a center of a gravity of the whole vehicle, whereby when the vehicle collides with an obstacle, a rear wheel can be prevented from floating upwardly. As a result, it is possible to prevent occurrence of pitching (such as the falling forward or bending backward) of the vehicle.
The above shock absorbing member can absorb a larger shock energy by enlarging a shape of the shock absorbing member, for example, by enlarging the dimensions of the member in the longitudinal direction (length direction of the vehicle), the lateral direction (width direction of the vehicle), and the height direction (vertical direction of the vehicle).
The enlargement of the shape of the shock absorbing member, however, has inconveniences. At first, if the dimensions of the shock absorbing member are enlarged in the height direction (vertical direction of the vehicle) and the longitudinal direction (length direction of the vehicle) so as to enlarge the shape of the shock absorbing member, a forward viewing area for a driver may be blocked by the shock absorbing member.
In addition, if the dimension of the shock absorbing member is enlarged in the lateral direction (width direction of the vehicle) so as to enlarge the shape of the shock absorbing member, right and left side surfaces of the shock absorbing member project outwardly from right and left side surfaces of the vehicular body, with a result that the right and left side surfaces of the shock absorbing member may interfere with an obstacle during the operation of the two-wheeled vehicle.